Watch Seattle Seahawks Quarterback Paxton Lynch Take Brutal Helmet-To-Helmet Hit

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Paxton Lynch is still recovering from the brutal helmet-to-helmet hit he took in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. The play occurred late in the fourth quarter and the Vikings were leading 25-16. Lynch called a run-pass-option play where he kept the ball himself and as he was sliding to get down, Vikings cornerback Holton Hill used his helmet to hit Lynch’s helmet and he was forced to leave the game.

Shortly after the hit, the officials penalized Hill and he was disqualified from the game. After the game, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll gave an update on Lynch and said he’s going through concussion protocol.

“He went through the protocol, and he’s still in there now,” Carroll said via the team’s official website. “He felt like he was OK, but he’s still got to pass those tests, so we’ll recognize all the process and take care of that.”

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer talked to Carroll after the game and he apologized for the hit.

“No. 1, we don’t want to see anybody get hurt, so I told Pete that after the game, sorry about his quarterback,” Zimmer said via ESPN. “No. 2, he can’t drop his head. But saying that, when a quarterback is running an option, he ought to be fair game other than lowering your head and hitting him in the head. So if they’re going to let these quarterbacks be runners, then we should be able to hit them. He didn’t hit him legally, but we need to hit these guys.”

Lynch signed with the Seahawks back in January after spending the entire 2018 season as a free agent. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2016 at No. 26 overall. In his two seasons with the Broncos, Lynch played in five games with four starts and recorded 792 passing yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions and a passer rating of 76.7. He was on the Broncos roster during the preseason, but he was cut right before the 2018 regular season began as Chad Kelly beat him out for the backup QB spot.

Shortly after the Broncos released Lynch, general manager John Elway explained why they made the decision to let him go.

“First of all, I hate quitting at anything and so I had high hopes for Paxton and thought he would continue to improve but ultimately decided with everything being looked at and a part of it being ‘what was the best situation for the Broncos’ and with a young backup in Chad Kelly that we needed more experience with another QB coming in and that’s why with Kevin Hogan available, I really liked him, and he had a good preseason in Washington,” Elway said.

Hopefully, Lynch can recover from his injury and secure a spot on the roster.